Yeah, it was a long day packed with interesting stops, great food & company. Our last stop was an olive oil factory. Pure Cretan olive oil is Kermit the Frog green and has a sharp, peppery taste. We got a complimentary bottle just for showing so much enthusiasm about the place. I highly recommend Zorba's resort. They will take you to places no tourist could even dream about finding on their own. 
In the middle of a town called Zaros in DEEP Crete, Costas pulls off the road and takes us to table made from a tree stump next to the collapsed remains of an ancient house and says "Here's the restaurant!" Out comes a Santa Claus looking Cretan (no pun intended) named Demetrios, the local butcher, with a pail of cheese, homemade red wine and a tomato and cucumber salad. We were almost full when out came the grilled lamb. It was the best food ever in a totally surreal setting.
I have to admit that for such a small island, the topography, climate and scenery change dramatically from one minute to the next. One side of a hill is 45, windy and overcast, while the other is sunny and 65! Talk about micro-climates.
We spent the afternoon in the hills about 30 kms east of Heraklion where Helen showed us how to prepare fried pork meatballs, lentil soup & some kind of cucumber yogurt dish, while Eric grilled pork ribs on the open fire. It was damp and quite cold (50), but we had good Cretan red wine to keep us warm! Frans played guitar, while I joined Valentina for a smoke (NOT!)
